Dogs That Won’t Bark
From God’s Word, the Bible…
All you beasts of the field, come to devour,
All you beasts in the forest.
His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant;
They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark;
Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough.
And they are shepherds who cannot understand;
They all look to their own way,
Every one for his own gain,
From his own territory.
“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine,
And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink;
Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.”
Isaiah 56:9-12
Sometimes I think my wife and I should have bought a Basenji. What is a Basenji? It is a dog without a bark.
The reason I think that from time to time is that our dog Molly barks and barks and barks. A good bit of her day is taken up with barking. She barks at people who are taking their walks (and especially if they happen to be walking their dogs). She barks at delivery people. She barks at the mail truck. She barks at neighbors who are working in their yards. She barks when someone knocks or rings the doorbell. She has a special hatred for the boxer (a dog, not a fighter) that lives next door, and barks furiously every time she sees him.
Molly loves to bark, and it can get rather annoying because she has a very loud bark. She is the little dog with the big bark.
Annoying? Yes. But I recognize that there may come a time when Molly’s bark has real value. If a burglar were to attempt to sneak in while we are sleeping, Molly would most certainly hear him and sound the alarm. What good is a dog without a bark when a danger is threatening the family?
The people of Judah were facing real danger: “beasts of the field” were coming “to devour” (v. 9). The crying need was for the “watchmen” stationed on the wall of the city to see the danger and sound the alarm, but, alas, the watchmen were “dumb dogs” that “cannot bark.” They preferred to lie down and take a nap rather than exert the energy to bark (v. 10).
All of this constitutes a picture of a far greater reality. Judah wasn’t being threatened by literal beasts. She was rather being threatened by foreign nations who hated her and wanted to destroy her. And the term “watchmen” doesn’t really refer to the men on the wall. It rather refers to the spiritual leaders of the nation who should have had enough discernment to see the situation. They should have seen that Judah’s enemies were coming against her because of the sinfulness of the people, and they should have called them to repent.
We need Mollys in our pulpits today. We need preachers who will bark at the sight of danger. We need men who will tell sinners that they are sinners, and if they don’t flee to Christ in true repentance and faith they are facing “everlasting destruction” (2 Thess. 1:9).
We need preachers who will warn Christians that spiritual coldness and indifference will lead to woeful results for themselves as individuals and for the church in general.
The sad truth is many preachers won’t bark. They have opted for a “feel-good” religion.
Why is it that so many preachers refuse to bark these days? Many are more concerned about the times than they are about the truth. They read opinion polls with more interest and fervor than they read the Word of God. They dread nothing more than being out of step.
Then there are those who tone down the message out of their concern for “nickels and noses.” They don’t want to run the risk of offending their hearers because they want to keep them coming to church and want them to continue giving their money.
A non-barking preacher is dangerous and should be avoided, but a barking preacher is an inestimable treasure. If you don’t have a barking preacher, find one, and if you do have one, pray for him and prize him. Someone has observed that the pastor who loves his people the most is the one who tells them the most truth about themselves.
I’m thankful that many years ago, a common, ordinary preacher stepped into the pulpit and barked at me. He told me that I must leave this world and stand before a holy God. He told me about my sin, and, thank God, he told me that God forgives sinners on the basis of the redeeming work of Christ. When I meet that preacher in heaven, I want to weep, fall on his neck, and kiss him (Acts 20:37).
Thank God for a barking preacher.
Copyright, Roger Ellsworth, from Fading Lines, Unfading Hope … And 30 Other Bible-Based Meditations or Month 4 in The Big Book of Coffee Cup Meditations (available from Amazon HERE).